Yellow tang death ... why?

temple2101

temple2101

Member
Hey guys ... first of all, I know I started out by making the mistake of putting a yellow tang in a 55gal. I know some say it's ok and some say it's not, but that is besides the point unless after this you feel that was the death of him. I bought the tang without doing the proper research (second mistake) and I regret that. I have had the yellow tang for exactly a week. The day after I got him he was swimming around (a little timid) but a very healthy eater. Everything seemed great. Well, yesterday I decided to upgrade my emporer 400 filter to a sump system. I did not remove the emporer as I will not for about 3 weeks until the sump has enough bacteria and stuff. Anyway, I was messing in and around the tank quite a bit to get the filter set up, but still my tang seemed fine. After everything was setup I noticed the tang breathing hard and not as active as usual. 12 hours later ... a dead fish. I tested my water:
pH - 8.2
Ammonia - 0
Nitrite - 0
Nitrate - 0
salinity - 1.024 (i believe was at 1.023 before I set up the new filter)
anyway ... could the tang have been stressed from me setting up the new filter? Any one have any ideas???
 
temple2101

temple2101

Member
Forgot to add ... I noticed a blackish spot in the middle of the tang as it was dying ... when I pulled the fish out the spot was pretty black. Any ideas?
 
buzz

buzz

Active Member
This black spot...it just appeared rapidly as the fish was dying?
Hmm...not sure what that would be.
But I do remember a post not too long ago in which someone had a similar thing happen. They added a new wet/dry, and lost fish immediately after as well. I forget who posted it, and what the title was, but I remember the post.
 
gamedawg

gamedawg

Member
That black spot may be his sleeping colors. When yellow tangs go into "night mode", they get a dark grey big spot on their side, with an almost white horizontal stripe in the middle. When they are very stressed they can also get this coloring. I remember when I was re-setting up my tank, I had my yellow tang in a bag for about 3 hours while I was filling the tank back up and letting it settle. I kept him in a sink with warm water so he wouldn't get cold. When the tank was a little more clear, I put him back in, and he was practically white, with that grey spot. He didn't go back to yellow until the tank had totally settled.
 
oceanists

oceanists

Active Member
Originally Posted by Gamedawg
That black spot may be his sleeping colors. When yellow tangs go into "night mode", they get a dark grey big spot on their side, with an almost white horizontal stripe in the middle. When they are very stressed they can also get this coloring. I remember when I was re-setting up my tank, I had my yellow tang in a bag for about 3 hours while I was filling the tank back up and letting it settle. I kept him in a sink with warm water so he wouldn't get cold. When the tank was a little more clear, I put him back in, and he was practically white, with that grey spot. He didn't go back to yellow until the tank had totally settled.

You hit that right on the head , my tang also gets that when it is dark in the tank , when you turn your lights on in turns yellow within 5 minutes ............ Allthough i think the reasoning behind the Black greyish discoloration is that it they were cyanide caught , i could be wrong though , all tangs may be like this , but the majority of tangs are cyanide caught , WHICH IS ILLEGAL
 
rwood

rwood

New Member
yeah i havent had that good of luck with yellow tangs the seem to be very skiddish and i can only keep them alive for like a month then they die ahhhhh so frusterating
 
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